The forthcoming short film ‘Bheetar - A Love Story’ has become the talk of the town, but why? BOLD takes a look
By Faizan Usmani & Maheen Aziz KARACHI
Though the entertainment industry in Pakistan has never been free from scandals and controversies, it seems the people pulling the strings of the industry have mastered the knack of achieving global fame and winning international accolades at the expense of infuriating the local audience by showing them something, which is nothing but controversial by all measures.
Following in the footsteps of Saim Sadiq’s Joyland, the forthcoming short film ‘BheetarA Love Story,’ written and directed by Mazhar Moin, has even gone further than Joyland and has become the talk of the town all of a sudden. BOLD delves deeper to find out the reasons of such trending topics these days.
The cast of the film ‘Bheetar - A Love Story’ includes Zohaib Bux, Usman Chaudhry, Manal Siddiqui and Javeria Abbasi as lead actors. Presented by a YouTube channel Meem Kahani, the OTT channel believes in depicting the hard-hitting reality as well as entertaining mature audiences by showing them fascinating characters to make them love, laugh and feel through bold, taboo and controversial stories, as the official
statement goes.
If the aforementioned is the mission statement of the channel, the mission has successfully been accomplished, as it is rightly implied by the short film’s teaser which went viral as soon as it was released. Given that the film’s teaser is not enough to approve or disapprove the film altogether, however, since a single drop makes the ocean, the short film Bheetar is reportedly based on the issue, which is neither ubiquitous nor relatively significant or appropriate for the audience by and large.
The teaser of the film has set the internet on fire. And this is mainly because the film reportedly revolves around the same-sex marriage between two women, as though it is the only hard-hitting reality left in the world to portray on screen for mature audience in a language spoken and understood by those who would never approve such unpalatable themes, and that too on a medium that is more accessed round the clock by immature audience than mature ones.
One of the leading objectives of the filmmaking is to create awareness which, as a result, leads to an intellectual discourse and discussion, and that's the ultimate point of cinema. There's been a lot of buzz around the film Joyland, largely because of its international appeal. In fact, the film depicts Pakistan as it happens to be in this time and age and what its people are like. It's neither an aspirational film with a moving song shot in Turkey or beyond, nor is it a commercial film, full of fun and entertainment. Joyland is a film that is very relatable, and I think that's perhaps the biggest takeaway for the audience here and whatever discussion and discourse that comes out of the film. Joyland is based on a story that needs to be told, time and again. For me, there was a need to tell this story, engage with characters and figure them out to make a film about them. I think there are a lot of people around us in real life who are very entertaining, interesting, and quirky and their stories matter too. And I think such stories on screen give us a sort of validation as people that we exist.
Saim Sadiq Film director and screenwriter
Masquerading in the guise of entertainment, Bheetar is much more than a piece of entertainment aimed for public view as it openly defies the centuries-old social norms, along with long-cherished matrimonial traditions backed by the most-revered religious teachings in world history. Over and above a brazen rebellion against the fervent beliefs, it indicates a great deal about the principal motif behind yet another polemical flick adding to the tally of provocative pictures, which are intentionally produced to secure overnight fame internationally at the cost of maligning the country as well as pillorying its majority of people, along with their socio-cultural values, customs and religious doctrines.
As things currently stand in Pakistan’s entertainment industry, there has been quite a trend of coming up with an out-of-the-box storyline, which is tainted with a controversial theme and shows a reckless disregard for the sensitivity of viewers. Falling into the same category, it seems the short film is a litmus test which has initially been carried out to measure the mass reaction in a country like Pakistan against a contentious as well as divisive subject that palpably crosses the moral red line, brashly defies the sociocultural milieu by any stretch of imagination and revels in surpassing the legal boundaries of the country which criminalises such aberrant relationships between
the same gender with harsh punishments.
The same thing was tried on the television screen some years before when a long play titled ‘Chewing Gum’ was aired on a private TV channel. Though ‘Chewing Gum’ was more allusive than out-and-out as per its content, the play did cause a fracas in the audience, owing to its highly disputed theme from the word go. Though the making of such shows in a country like Pakistan can simply be referred to as an audiovisual crime, the overriding intent behind such egregious efforts is as bright as day. More than an agenda-driven rhetoric based on the Universal Declaration of Human Rights with reference to 70:30 Articles in particular, featuring issues related to LGBTQ on TV, film or computer screen can never be ruled out as a one man’s hankering for a big idea out of a naïve urge for sudden sensation. In stark contrast, such programmes are always an outcome of predefined, well-orchestrated and calculated efforts made under the veil of individual’s penchant and are primarily aimed at increasing the social acceptability of immoral human behaviour in a society that values moral conformity, as defined by the state. As a state within the state leads to political anarchy and civil unrest, the people of the state cannot operate in silos by apparently contravening the state directions to accommodate their self-interests. Especially when it comes to the freedom of expression and liberty of thought, boasting ‘my
way or the highway’ attitude does not work in mass media, as one’s unbridled liberty must reach its limit where the other’s nose begins.
Considering the fact that Pakistan, similar to many other Islamic nations, is under duress to become the signatory to the UN declaration that calls for the decriminalisation and de-penalisation of consensual same-sex relations between adults, efforts are in place on a global scale to make LGBTQ a household term, particularly in a society known for its absolute disapproval for homosexual practices. India is the relevant and the most current example where various narrative tools, including films, were heavily employed to include LGBTQ issues in mainstream media discourse in order to bring such dark matters into the public agenda. Now the decriminalisation of Section 377 in September 2018 in the Hindu-majority land is not a coincidence from any perspective, in spite of the fact that none of the mainstream religions in India allow homosexuality in its any conceivable form.
In the given scenario, the short film ‘BheetarA Love Story’ seems to have played it quite safe by projecting the story in a Hindu background, but the film’s teaser does not make it clear whether the characters are based in India or Pakistan. However, it proves the fact that the disciples of Manto, who was an intellectual errant by himself, cannot think beyond women’s sexuality and revel in its convoluted intricacies with gusto, be it producing a piece of literature or making of a film or TV show or any kind of audiovisual documentary aimed at raising public awareness or, better to say, ripping the social fabric apart in the name of filmmaking.
In a word, an act of sexual deviancy or moral aberration should not be fantasised and glamourised in mainstream media to give leeway for the rest of the films of the same ilk to make a mockery of social mores and collective values revered by a society like ours. It is always thrilling to enter the world of taboo, however, a handful of adventurists desperate to cash in on the women’s perceived victimhood cannot be encouraged to stand up against the prevailing beliefs and values. In place of crafting a shortcut to the Oscars by exploiting objectionable themes along with footloose and fancy-free Western culture, it’s always better to find out the story, which is neither bold nor controversial and literally belongs to the society we live in.
Basically, I want to tell those stories which pique my interest and I bring out those stories of which people are well familiar with, yet they are afraid to discuss them with each other. In fact, every story entails several characters and we try to portray these characters the way they are. While describing their stories, one should not think about the public reaction as one must have that courage as well as passion to tell such stories in public. As featured in the short film ‘Bheetar - A Love Story,’ the principal purpose is not to derive voyeuristic pleasure from these unusual stories. Similar to the rest of the commonplace stories we come across, the main objective is to truly narrate the intertwined stories of the lives of the concerned characters as the way things unfold in their oppressed lives, inhibiting their personal freedom to live the way they want. Though the main story of the film revolves around a couple of women belonging to non-Muslim community, the intent is not to target a specific faith, cast or country, as the film simply depicts a different set of visuals and nothing else. In fact, riveting stories and characters can be found everywhere and such a ubiquitous element is well beyond any region, cast or faith. Any sensible person with enough exposure to the world may understand the fact that there is a whole host of interesting characters and their stories that are found everywhere under the sun, while there are some people for whom life is quite painful and excruciating and their stories need to be portrayed. With reference to the backlash the film ‘Bheetar – A Love Story’ is receiving from a group of people, I am well-determined to tell the stories which I want to depict through the mass media.
A story that is secretly discussed within the confines of a tiny room must be brought out to increase its exposure and to make the rest of the people aware of it. In place of mixing with religion or socio-cultural norms, any film must be viewed under the lens of art. Honestly speaking, my next film is expected to be more controversial than this one, as I want viewers to be flexible enough to sit, listen to and discuss these taboo subjects out in the open. As far as the film’s cast is concerned, Javeria Abbasi was very passionate about playing the leading role in ‘Bheetar - A Love Story’ and she said that no other actress would play the role than her. In fact, the film is an outcome of mutual discussions and rigorous homework as it focuses on the overall journey of two women, portraying the pain they suffer in excruciating circumstances. For us, featuring lust on screen was the easiest thing to do, but we primarily focused on portraying the painful lives some women lead by sacrificing their own individuality and desire. Particularly those who are not happy with the main storyline of the film must first watch the film, understand the story and then form their opinion.
Mazhar Moin Writer and DirectorKARACHI
The Hockey World Cup has begun in India and Pakistan isn’t part of the teams participating in the mega event for the second time, which is sad considering no team has won
Sudden Death (1995)
Director: Peter Hyams
the event more times than the green shirts. However, they make their presence felt in films/long plays about the game through the Pak-China collaboration Paiman-e-Wafa that revolved around the game. Since the sport isn’t played in the United States, they have made films on the ice hockey version, which in turn was copied in the summer-loving Bollywood, as Chak De India. Let’s go down memory lane and revisit some of the memorable films that have revolved around Hockey, and have made fans of the sport and cinemagoers proud.
Cast: Jean-Claude Van Damme, Powers Boothe, Raymond J. Barry, Dorian Harewood
Plot: To associate a sports film with JCVD may not be a new thing but to make him save the day as well as his daughter in a sports flick was unthinkable until Sudden Death. Set at the Pittsburgh Civic Arena, the film revolved around an assassination attempt on the Vice President of the United States while he was watching the final of the Stanley Cup, the premier ice hockey competition. Since former firefighter Darren McCord (Van Damme) had taken his kids to the match, he was there when the action took place. Add to that his daughter’s kidnapping by the same guys who had held the US VP hostage, and you had a die-hard kind of situation with a man who wouldn’t stop until he got the job done. Even if he had to save a goal to take the match, into the Sudden Death round!
Miracle (2004)
Director: Gavin O'Connor
Cast: Kurt Russell, Patricia Clarkson, Noah Emmerich, Sean McCann, Kenneth Welsh, Eddie Cahill, Patrick O'Brien, Michael Mantenuto, Nathan West
Plot: Based on the United States men's ice hockey team’s greatest achievement – A gold medal at the Winter Olympics – this film shows how one man’s vision challenged the domination of the Russians and halted their progress in the Winter Olympics. Dubbed Miracle on Ice, the film’s main protagonist was the team’s head coach Herb Brooks (played brilliantly by Kurt Russell) who was part of the scripting process as well as the execution, but sadly passed away before the film’s release. The film showed how Herb Brooks who wasn’t part of the last US side to win the Gold was able to make a winning side from newcomers who came from different backgrounds, played a different kind of hockey and had a different opinion on everything, but the aim to was the same, that is to win the gold medal. Which they did!
With the Hockey World Cup being played in India, let’s take a trip down memory lane, watching hockey in films!
Paiman-e-Wafa (1986)
Director: Madam Xu Huanxi/Manzoor Qureshi
Cast: Asif Raza Mir, Neelma Hasan, Qavi Khan, Sami Ullah Khan
Plot: One of the first two Pak-China collaborations, this long play revolved around the different types of hockey, played in Pakistan and China. Back then China didn’t have a strong field hockey team so they exchanged a Pakistani hockey player (Asif Raza Mir) with a Chinese Ice Hockey player so that both could learn each other’s game. Qavi Khan played the Hockey Coach who was tasked to train the Chinese national while the legendary Flying Horse Sami Ullah Khan made a guest appearance as well. The Chinese actor was dubbed by TV actor Talat Iqbal, while Manzoor Qureshi was one of the co-directors who shot the scenes in Pakistan. The PTV long play also featured sporting action such as the Chinese actor playing Ice Hockey at home and featured a couple of songs as well.
Mystery, Alaska (1999)
Director: Jay Roach Cast: Russell Crowe, Hank Azaria, Mary McCormack, Lolita Davidovich, Ron Eldard, Colm Meaney, Maury Chaykin, Burt Reynolds
Plot: Mystery, Alaska revolves around the sudden emergence of an amateur ice hockey team from a small town named Mystery, and how they dealt with the pressure. It so happened that a newspaper magazine glorified their weekly hockey match so much that the New York Rangers, from the National Hockey League (NHL), decided to pay them a visit. Led by Sherriff John Biebe (Russell Crowe) and featuring characters who play sport for recreation, the town gears up for the challenge in its own way. When their opponents arrive from the big city, they find themselves under pressure at first but later regroup to give the visitors the kind of competition they never expected. Add to that the speech by Judge Walter Burns (Burt Reynolds) that has been done to death around the world and you have a sports drama that you would remember for a long time.
Gold (2018)
Director: Reema Kagti
Cast: Akshay Kumar, Mouni Roy, Kunal Kapoor, Amit Sadh, Vineet K. Singh, Sunny Kaushal, Nikita Dutta
Plot: Gold revolves around India's first gold medal in field hockey at an international level after independence, in the Summer Olympics of 1948. The main protagonist of the story wasn’t a player but the assistant manager Tapan Das (Akshay Kumar) who was also with them when the team won the event the last time it was held. How the newly-created state managed to do the unthinkable, how the squad was able to come back from losing the main players to the neighboring Pakistan, and why were the players upbeat to win their first event is all shown in this brilliantly made film which was smartly released at the time of the Independence Day.
Note: Chak De India is not on the list because it was a heavily inspired version of Mystery, Alaska, and Miracle; moments like the finale of the match in the former, and the practice session in the latter were shamelessly plagiarized in the SRK vehicle.
Director Guy Ritchie's Michael Bay aspirations destroyed this wannabe Mission Impossible because he tried to expand without planning ahead!
By Omair AlaviKARACHI
There are some films that are so good that you remember them for a long time, similarly, there are bad films that you don’t want to remember at all. Sadly, Guy Ritchie’s latest flick Operation Fortune: Ruse de Guerre falls in the latter category because it comes out as an amateur version of how Mission Impossible would have looked without Tom Cruise. Its release was delayed, and there were reports that it might have been shelved, however, it did make it to the screen only to disappoint the audience. It would have been better had Operation Fortune: Ruse de Guerre remained on the shelf because it neither helped Guy Ritchie the director nor his most frequent collaborator Jason Statham and above all, those who paid money to watch the film in theatres.
The Plot
Operation Fortune: Ruse de Guerre revolves around the adventure of super spy Orson Fortune (Jason Statham) who is picked by his frequent collaborator Nathan (Cary Elwes) to lead a team of top operatives tasked to recover a deadly new weapons technology stolen by another team of highly trained operatives. In order to gain an audience with the suspected people involved, the team recruits Hollywood's biggest movie star Danny Francesco (Josh Hartnett), since he is the favorite
actor of billionaire Greg Simmonds (Hugh Grant), the middleman. Things go sideways when reports of a rival team reach the official team, the actor finds out the team’s true intentions and the antagonists begin to get greedy, thus starting the race to get their hands on the weapon that could threaten to disrupt the world order.
The Good
There are many positives that one can take from Operation Fortune: Ruse de Guerre, such as coming up with a trailer that intrigues the audience, giving Josh Hartnett a major role after a long time, shooting at exotic locations like Morocco, France, Turkey, and Qatar to name a few. It opens in the best way imaginable with Cary Elwes’ character walking into his boss’s room to find out that a crime of huge magnitude has occurred and he has to do something to level the playing field. The way he picks his team reminds the audience of all the ensemble films from the past and sets up the film well.
Fans of Jason Statham would be happy to see him reunite with his most successful collaborator while to see Josh Hartnett in a central role would also give the fans of the actor something to cherish. Also, the way the team operates no matter where they are in the world is impressive, and so is the car chase that ends abruptly, but looks good until it lasts. Yes, the film gives the feel of The Man from UNCLE as well as other Guy Ritchie films, but that’s where the positivity ends.
The Bad The saddest part of Operation Fortune: Ruse de Guerre is that when the audience leaves the theatre, they don’t remember much of the film because there is nothing to remember. The characters are not something you hadn’t seen before on the screen; the stunts have been done to death in Hollywood and other places while the plot seems more childish than anything else. Hugh Grant was wasted in the role, and the same could be said of Cary Elwes who might want to rediscover himself before fading into his past glory. Even Jason Statham's idiosyncrasies mentioned at the beginning were forgotten once he got into his first fight of the movie as if there never was any issue with his character.
As for the actors playing the spies, none besides Jason Statham registered with the audience. Aubrey Plaza is easily the most irritating aspect of the film because first, she neither looks like the breathtaking beauty her character is supposed to be nor fits the description of a tech-savvy agent. She has no chemistry with Jason Statham or Josh Hartnett which makes her a weak link. Had Bugsy Malone not tried too hard to ape Ving Rhames’s Luther Stickell from Mission Impossible series, he would have been remembered at the end of the film. At times the editing seemed awkward as well, especially in one fight scene which appeared in a flashback later. It would also have been great had the film been marketed as a Mission Impossible spoof with Tom
Cruise playing himself but the director had other ideas.
The Verdict 2/5
The way Operation Fortune: Ruse de Guerre was executed gives the impression that director Guy Ritchie felt like a fish out of the water while directing a linear film, which clearly isn’t his strong suit. He wanted to make a franchise that rivaled Mission Impossible but forgot the very ingredients that made Tom Cruise starrer a bankable entity – perfect casting, a really impossible mission, and never-before-executed stunts. Instead, he gives us a movie when a character falls to his death from a tower, yet the cellphone survives, where hacking a firewall is a piece of cake and where guards are there to die, instead of safeguarding the premises.
Also, the title – translated into Ruse of War – makes the film look more like a con movie than an action-adventure, which sadly doesn’t help the product since it tried to cater to every genre, and failed to register into any one genre. Taking available actors instead of those fitting the characters, shooting around the world without any reason, and releasing a halfbaked project are the very reasons why there shouldn’t be a sequel to Operation Fortune: Ruse de Guerre and why Jason Statham should stick to franchises like The Expendables and Hobbs & Shaw where at least he has a proper character and is given the mileage to perform.
AFP
"They made us join up to wage war," said Ndiogou Dieye, 103, casting his memory back more than eight decades to when he and other young Senegalese donned uniforms to fight for distant France.
"We didn't know where we were going."
The wizened old soldier is one of the last survivors of France's colonial-era African infantry -- a force that fought in two world wars and colonial conflicts in North Africa and Indo-China.
After years of neglect, the troops are the subject of a blockbuster movie, "Tirailleurs," opening in France and Senegal this month, starring Omar Sy, best known internationally for the Netflix crime series "Lupin".
Sy plays a Senegalese father who voluntarily enlists in the French army in World War I to keep an eye on his son, who has been forced into uniform. Both are pitched into the horrors of the Western Front.
The term "Tirailleurs" refers to both conscripted and volunteer soldiers– from France’s west African colonies who fought in France from 1914-1918.
The "tirailleurs," loosely translatable as "skirmishers," were born in Senegal in
1857, to forge a corps of lightly armed, mobile troops who would harass the enemy ahead of an advancing main force.
After World War I broke out, France recruited across its West African colonies to transform the tirailleurs into a force designed to hammer the Germans on the Western Front.
They took part in several key battles, notably holding the line at a crucial moment in Verdun in 1916, arguably the most important battle in the four-year-long conflict.
Some 30,000 of the 134,000 tirailleurs who fought in WWI were killed, according to the specialist French magazine Historia.
Survivors were often crippled or scarred by trauma, yet their tale was often relegated to footnotes, and their names never featured on local war memorials in France -- the daily reminder to French people of the cost of the conflict.
High-sounding plans to provide hospitals and pensions were downgraded or sapped by bureaucracy, and tirailleurs sometimes suffered second-class treatment compared with their French counterparts.
In World War II, tens of thousands of tirailleurs fought in sub-Saharan and North Africa and took part in the 1944 landings in southern France.
Dieye said he was recruited in May
1940 in his home town of Thies, about 70 kilometres (45 miles) from Dakar, and joined the Seventh Regiment of tirailleurs.
After basic training near Dakar, his unit was shipped out to Madagascar but had to turn around because of a submarine threat.
It then headed to the French Congo and on to Gabon, liberating the capital Libreville from the collaborationist Vichy government "after a few shots", he said.
The regiment was sent to the Middle
East to prepare for operations in Europe, but by then, Berlin had fallen.
Dieye returned to Senegal in 1945 as a sergeant, and in the post-colonial period joined the police, retiring in 1972 at the age of 52.
Today, he lives in a house in Thies surrounded by photos and memorabilia from his years of service.
Slow-moving but sharp-eyed, he is bitter towards France, accusing it of
"dishonesty".
In December 1944, French troops at a barracks near Dakar opened fire on mutinous tirailleurs demanding back pay for years spent in prisoner-of-war camps.
The official toll of 35 dead is disputed, and the common grave where the soldiers were buried has never been found. The episode remains murky and bitterly remembered in Senegal despite an attempt by former French president Francois Hollande to shed light for reconciliation.
"You send someone to war, he claims his money and you punish him" by killing him, said Dieye, a tone of disgust in his voice.
He reserves his greatest anger for France's failure to pay his military pension, equivalent to 750 euros (dollars) annually, for the past two years.
"France hasn't kept its promise," he said. "I depend on the Good Lord and my children to survive. I get nothing as a former tirailleur. Zilch from France."
France's Veterans' Affairs Office said
that military pensioners who were very old had to show documented proof from their national authorities that they were still alive.
Dieye's pension payments were suspended in 2021 as he had failed to provide this document, it said. Last year, "in early 2022, he submitted proof, and his situation will therefore soon be put in order," it said.
Historian Mamadou Kone said he believed only 10 or so tirailleurs from World War II were still alive in Senegal. The last tirailleur from World War I, Abdoulaye Ndiaye, died in 1998 at the age of 104.
At home, tirailleurs were long "ostracized, considered armed enforcers of French imperialism. Their image was stained," said Kone.
Things changed in 2004, when then president Aboulaye Wade named December 1 as an annual day to commemorate the tirailleurs, enshrining their achievements "in two world wars which freed the world from Nazism and fascism," he said.
By Omair Alavi KARACHIEveryone has a favorite movie list, and every owner of such a list believes that their list is the best in the world, and no one can come up with a better top 10 list than theirs. Thankfully, author Rob Hill has come up with a Top 10 Movie list that not only betters these self-proclaimed lists but also reasons with the readers why his list is better than theirs. It not only makes you realize that you are not on top of the world as you might have imagined and there is a lot to learn by just grasping the learnings these pages provide.
Let's begin with the various lists this book has before comparing the merits and demerits of the contents of the list. After all, one must have immense knowledge of Hollywood flicks if one is to come up with the definitive book of lists for people interested in the same kind of films. One slip here and it all goes down but interestingly the book doesn't lose its touch once because of the brilliance with which it was compiled.
The thing that keeps this book fresh and different is the author's decision to not provide a list on the basis of the actors but on the basis of genres. That's why there is no repetition in this book and every category has a different feel, and even begins differently.
Since every other list begins with the actors playing the lead, the author has his own take as he introduces his list world to the readers through the Top 10 antiheroes. Not only does he select the best ten characters that have been portrayed in Hollywood, but he also gives his reasoning as well regarding why they deserve a place on this list.
He then raises the bar with every other list that follows including those celebrating sporting moments, discussing on-screen Families, best-ever heist attempts, film noir flicks, and so on. Trust me, your favorite actors would be found in abundance in these lists since it gives importance to all those
who deserve applause and recognition.
Where else would you find a list dedicated to Sidekicks (Minions included), villains, private investigators, and cops, while also talking about 80's action flicks, biopics, time travel movies, and made-for-TV movies, all within a span of a few pages.
If you think that's enough, think again because there are subcategories to many types of characters as well, although they aren't mentioned as subcategories but as individual lists. Greedy bastards have their own Top 10, the 10 best Assassins get their own list, Femme Fatales and Gangsters get the respect they deserve whereas Womanizers are named and shamed.
Dance scenes. Check. Shoot-outs. Check. Coolest Characters. Check. This is how this book works since it brings together all those characters, scenes, and films that must be on everyone’s to-watch list
Don’t be surprised if you find Peter Sellers’ twin roles in Dr. Strangelove in two different categories or the opening sequence of Gravity listed above ahead of its time's visual effects of Terminator 2: Judgment Day or Jurassic Park, because the writer has mentioned why he has rated one over the other. Although doing so made him reveal some of the spoilers as well which might not go down well with those who are yet to see the films, especially in the 'Twist Ending' section. For those who aren’t fond of spoilers, there is the 'Remake better than the Originals' chapter where the newer Ocean’s Eleven gets mentioned instead of the original
Talking of smartness, this book forgets that the readers might be smart in some places. I was cool reading the book until I found out that Dirty Harry wasn't part of the Top 10 Cops list or that the author mentioned the car chases of Bullitt and The French Connection in the introduction rather than including them in the list. After all, had it not been for Clint Eastwood's Dirty Harry or the aforementioned car chases that we might not have had so many inspired versions in the next five to six decades.
That's why the notable omission category would have been ideal since that way the weakest entry in the top 10 could have ended up in that section and the more deserving ones would have found their rightful place. Even with such issues, this book makes you want to watch more and more films, or rewatch some of the classics to get an idea of what you might not have been able to grasp the first time around, due to external factors. Dance scenes. Check. Worst Video Game Adaptations. Check. Shoot-outs. Check. Coolest Characters. Check. This is how this book works since it brings together all those characters, scenes, and films that must be on everyone’s to-watch list if they aren’t already familiar with them. Some of the readers might not agree with some of the rankings and would want their favorite film to be positioned higher, but for that the person criticizing should have either seen more films or have valid reasons to present his or her theory.
The all-color print of this mother of all lists makes it an exciting collector’s item whereas the information mentioned is nothing less than a treasure trove. Add to that the create your own list feature and you have something to add to this book as well. It will not only make you a master of films in no time but help you decide what to watch over the weekend, with your friends or with no other person in sight so you can better understand the reasons mentioned in this book about that film, that character or that genre.
The new blockbuster film "Tirailleurs” highlights the plight of France's forgotten colonial troops from Senegal
The ultimate book of top 10 movies will blow your mindBY Bold Desk
When it comes to Pakistani fashion, few models have attained the lofty heights which Sadaf Kanwal has managed to achieve in a relatively short amount of time. The petite model has an uncanny ability of pulling of a variety of looks and attires, but it is the effortless grace with which she carries traditional Pakistani clothing – be it shalwar kameez, a saree, or a gharara –that has helped her win the hearts of the fashion world. It is hard to think of a Pakistani fashion brand which has not utilized the beauty talents in front of the camera to help market their clothes.
From donning peppy Khaadi looks to appearing regal in Asim Jofa’s line of clothing, Kanwal can do it all. She is also a regular feature at all of Pakistan’s bridal and couture fashion showcases, walking the ramp with the same ease with which she graces billboards and the walls of clothing outlets. She did enjoy a brief stint as an actress and dancer in Pakistani films, appearing in films like Balu Mahi and performing a hit dance number in Nabeel Qureshi’s Na Maloom Afraad 2. However, the model has not done much work in films since. This is understandable given that she must have her hands full now that she has a child with her husband Shehroz Subzwari. This, however, has not stopped Kanwal’s modeling career, with her name has now become synonymous with fashion in Pakistan.
Vivienne Westwood, a British fashion designer who died in December, successfully built a brand, which is cocky, brazen and resolutely independent
AFP
British designer Vivienne Westwood, who died on December 29, succeeded in keeping her fashion house financially independent, even as others sought stock market listings or security within major luxury groups.
She weathered the Covid pandemic, inflation and other storms thanks to the support of celebrities such as actor Emma Watson, singer Dua Lupa and British Queen Consort Camilla.
The punk icon's fashion house had just two board members -- Westwood herself and long-time director-general Carlo D'Amario -- until Jeffrey Banks joined them on December 16, 2022.
In 2018, the company went into the red and was restructured. But it stayed afloat.
"Vivienne did have ups and downs because of Covid, as well as inflation, especially in Europe," said Andrew Burnstine, associate professor in marketing at Lynn University in Florida.
"One of the reasons she was able to weather the recent storm was because of the incredible celebrity client base she had," Burnstine told AFP.
"Having a loyal and solid client base, licences, franchises and yearly collections are the best way to continuing your brand name and identity," he added.
"Vivienne was very good at making
calls, meeting with clients and, most importantly, marketing her brand and name on social media and the media."
- 'Buy less. Choose well'The latest financial results for Westwood's fashion house published on
the UK government's Company House website -- covering the 2020 financial year -- showed a pre-tax profit of 3.9 million pounds ($4.7 million) on sales worth 42 million pounds.
The label had around 500 employees.
The trade press made much of a past run-in Westwood had with the UK tax authorities.
She was accused of underestimating the value of her label by means of payments to a Luxembourg-based subsidiary and was forced, about a decade ago, to pay around 500,000 pounds in extra tax.
Westwood was an environmental and anti-capitalist activist, and coined the phrase "Buy less. Choose well. Make it last."
But she was accused of hypocrisy for continuing to produce several collections every year, including men's and women's ready-to-wear, accessories, perfumes and wedding dresses.
The Westwood label nonetheless prides itself on using organic or recycled synthetic materials, has stopped using plastic packaging and regularly publishes its carbon emissions.
While the majority of the label's sales are in the UK, where it owns six boutiques, the brand also has one outlet each in France and Italy, and two in the United States.
It is also making inroads in Asia, notably in China, Japan, Thailand and Singapore. It has production sites in the UK, China, Italy and Kenya, with a "Made in Kenya" line that aims to develop a sustainable supply chain in Africa.
- Subverting conventions -
Since 2016, the company's artistic direction has been steered by Westwood's husband and long-time business partner Andreas Kronthaler, who has made a significant contribution to the style of the brand since the couple met in 1989. That style cocks a snook at bourgeois and aristocratic conventions by subverting traditional British clothing habits. The cuts are sophisticated but asymmetrical.
Westwood uses traditional flowery or tartan prints, along with tweed and romantic tulle fabrics. But the prints and colours clash.
Tucked-up skirts and crumpled crinolines make for a mad princess or wonky ballerina look -- always provocative, always tongue in cheek. SM apparel combines with the corsets of romantic heroines. Taffeta dresses are worn as miniskirts with fishnet tights -a look Westwood herself sported when she collected an award at the Florence Biennale in 2021, at the tender age of 80.
A persona that exudes elegance, poise and glamour, Sara Khan is a name to be reckoned with in the world of fashion
Pakistan’s legendary and trailblazing qawwali icon Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan redefined how the world perceived the genre of qawwali music. From his soulful renditions to his playful and experimental collaborations with musicians like Peter Gabriel, Khan has left behind an impressive musical legacy despite his early death. Now, the mastery of his voice and vocal range is once again receiving international recognition as the world renowned music magazine Rolling Stones has included Khan in their list of 200 greatest singers of all time. Referring to him as the “Shehansha-e-Qawwali,” the magazine stated, “"It’s easy to lose track of time and to hear how his music easily reached global audiences in the 80s when he began performing abroad and recording for Peter Gabriel’s Real World label. His many famous fans included Madonna, Eddie Vedder (who duetted with him on the Dead Man Walking soundtrack), and Jeff Buckley (who called the singer “my Elvis” and studied Urdu in order to properly cover him).” Some of the other famous singers that were included in this list were Lata Mangeshkar, Mariah Carey, Ray Charles, Whitney Houston, Elton John, Bob Marley, and Taylor Swift.
Egyptian women are shaking up the country's underground electronic music scene
AFP Laser beams illuminate a darkened restaurant turned dance hall in Cairo as revellers move to thumping beats from female DJs -part of a generation of women shaking up Egypt's underground electronic music scene.
"All my life, I've seen men behind the decks," said party-goer Menna Shanab, 26, as psychedelic visuals reflected off the waters at the Nile-side venue.
"It's good to see the music scene evolving," said the young Cairo resident, decked out in fashionable streetwear.
In Egypt's patriarchal society, the music industry remains male-dominated, while the conservative country's cultural establishment marginalises and even bans electronic music artists. Female party-goers for years have complained about harassment on the dance floor, while many revellers find mainstream venues too pricey.
Now, a generation of young women DJs are forging their own path, seeking to create more inclusive spaces for performers and party-goers alike. A small but vibrant electronic music scene is "booming" in the Egyptian capital, according to Yemeni music journalist and occasional DJ Hala K, asking like others to be identified only by her stage name.
"A lot of female talents feel more confident and empowered to pursue DJing," the Amsterdam-based Hala K said by telephone.
Aspiring artists are taking inspiration from female DJs from the region, she added -- such as Palestinian Sama Abdulhadi, who has performed from Egypt to France and at premier US festival Coachella. In Cairo,
there are "powerful, talented women at the turntables: they know how to make people dance", Hala K said.
'Party in peace'
DJ and promoter A7ba-L-Jelly decided to establish her own collective as part of making the underground electronic dance music scene more inclusive.
"I wanted to organise events where I would feel safe myself, without harassment," said the 32-year-old.
"I just wanted to go and party in peace."
More than 90 percent of women in Egypt aged between 18 and 39 said in 2019 that they had experienced some form of sexual harassment, according to the Arab Barometer public opinion research network.
"In some places in Egypt, where they play more commercial music... you won't enter because you are single, or because you don't look rich enough," A7ba-L-Jelly added.
"I book male and female DJs to create dance floors that are inclusive in terms of music, gender and social class," she said.
From the Nile-side dance venue, DJ Yas
Meen Selectress complained that regardless of gender, "there are no dedicated spaces for us where we can play our music".
Locations are often gardens or other makeshift sites, organisers said.
"Traditions, society and other factors mean that there are fewer women than men in the scene," Yas Meen Selectress added.
Less than 20 percent of women are officially employed in the country of 104 million.
For the DJ in her late 20s, who lives between Cairo and New York, however, "to be only defined by one's gender is reductive".
For others like Dalia Hassan, it is a selling point. Over the past two decades, she has made a name for herself playing at womenonly events from Cairo to the Yemeni capital Sanaa and Riyadh in Saudi Arabia. Hassan said she DJs at bachelorette parties, gender-segregated weddings and anywhere a female audience wants to "get dressed up and dance as they please". Having a woman at the turntables allows other women to let loose -- "especially those who are veiled", she added.
For France-based researcher Hajer Ben Boubaker, the lack of women DJs runs counter to Egypt's strong tradition of women performers.
"Female singers have always been well represented in the Arab cultural scene," she said.
"The symbol par excellence of Egyptian music is still the mythical Umm Kalthoum," she added, referring to the 20th-century diva revered around the Arab world. But "women are barely represented in the Egyptian electro scene of mahraganat, which is the most popular music today," she added.
Mahraganat relies heavily on computergenerated and synthesised beats and features blunt lyrics that tackle topics including love, power and money. The country's musicians' union announced late last year it was abolishing the genre as part of a campaign to "preserve public taste". Frederike Berje from Germany's Goethe-Institute in Cairo noted that Egypt's "music industry, especially the electronic scene, is heavily dependent on private initiatives and the commitment of individual artists". Despite rising numbers of women DJs, however, it "remains dominated by men -- especially when it comes to production and management", she added.
Blackpink, a South Korean musical group with a Thai dancer, is kicking off the Asia leg
of their "BORN PINK" world tour in Bangkok, Thailand
AFP When Blackpink mega-star Lisa takes to the stage in Bangkok in January this week, seeing the Thai-born K-pop sensation dance in the flesh will be a life-defining moment for local people.
Lalisa Manobal, commonly known as Lisa,, hails from Buriram province in northeastern Thailand, and last performed on home turf in 2019 with her South Korean girl band.
With speculation rife over the group's future, Thai Blink fans -- as they call themselves -- are anxious to see a potential last hurrah.
"She is very charming when she dances and she is the best dancer in the band," said Nipattanachai Thepkamdee, an influencer who goes by the nickname "James" on his TikTok and YouTube fan club channels -- which amass hundreds of thousands of followers.
"I like Lisa the most. Partly because of her skills and the fact that she is Thai," he said.
Thai government is also fond of the young rapper.
It hailed her as a soft power icon after she wore traditional Thai headgear and performed in front
of Phanom Rung stone castle -- a Hindu Khmer Empire temple complex -- in a 2021 music video for her first solo album.
"When foreigners think of Lisa, they will definitely think of Thailand," Nipattanachai said.
This month it will be his first Blackpink concert.
"I will freak out and probably cry, because I really, really want to see them live once in my life," he added.
The 21-year-old university student's bedroom resembles a shrine to the girl group, with floorto-ceiling posters and a collection of Blackpinkbranded paraphernalia from chocolates, biscuits and soft drink bottles.
"I have spent more than 100,000 baht ($3000)," he said.
Nipattanachai hopes to one day dance on the international stage like his idol.
For weeks, he has been busy rehearsing Blackpink choreography to be a part of warm-up festivities ahead of the first Born Pink World Tour performance in the Thai capital.
"I always look at her photo and tell myself that if Lisa can do it, I can do it as well. I really love her," he said.
'Because she is Thai' Outside of Suphachalasai National Stadium, at least a thousand early bird fans -- many decked out in pink and black clothes -- started gathering around noon to buy merchandise, take selfies and participate in dance flash mobs with a giant blue bear mascot.
"I like every single one of the band members but I like Lisa the most because she is Thai," Blackpink fan Sittipong Jitaue, 29, said. Pornthip Dumklang, 25, who travelled from another province for the concert, said she was filled with a sense of national pride to see Lisa perform.
"From a scale of one to 10, my excitement is at 10 because this is my first Blackpink concert," she said.
#BORNPINKinBangkok and #LisaHomeComing are currently trending hashtags on Twitter in Thailand.
Formed in 2016, Blackpink -- made up of Lisa, two South Korean members Kim Jisoo and Jennie Kim, and New Zealand-born Australianraised Roseanne "Rose" Park -- has helped to raise K-pop's global profile with tens of millions of fans.
After the critical success that Saim Sadiq’s film Joyland managed to amass ever since its first showing at the Cannes Film Festival in 2022, the film has continued to prove to be an international sensation. With it becoming the first Pakistani film to be shortlisted for the Oscars’ Foreign Film category, the buzz around Joyland is very high at the moment. In an attempt to capatalise on this, American film distributing house Oscilloscope Laboratories will ensure that the film gets a theatrical release in America. The New York-based film distributor also had Joyland debut at the Cannes Film Festival, where it won both a Jury Prize and the Queer Palm. Speaking about this, Sadiq expressed his excitement at Joyland getting a US release, saying, “I am incredibly excited about welcoming Oscilloscope to our ever growing Joyland family and genuinely humbled by the fact that this dream that I nurtured for years is finally going to reach the audience in the US. My team and I have been so overwhelmed with the unending outpour of love from theatrical audiences in France and Pakistan and festival audiences worldwide that have discovered the film. So I’m very hopeful that Haider, Biba, and Mumtaz will find many friends in the United States as well.”
The Pakistan Telecommunication Authority (PTA) and the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) have been ordered by the Sindh High Court (SHC) to take down offensive material about Pakistani actress Kubra Khan from the internet. Retired army officer turned YouTuber Adil Raja had early stated that he was in possession of allegedly compromising videos of actresses with the initials KK, SA, MK, and MH. Following Raja’s video which detailed this, people on social media began discussing online potentially which actresses they believed he was talking about. In light of the on-going speculation, Sajal Aly, Mehwish Hayat, Mahira Khan, and Kubra Khan responded strongly to Raja’s remarks and the subsequent character assassination they were subjected to on social media. Kubra told Raja to recant his statement and publicly apologise within three days or prepare for defamation litigation in London. After the Sindh High Court called upon the Pakistan Telecommunication Authority (PTA) and the Federal Investigative Agency (FIA) to remove all defamatory content against Kubra, the actress wrote on Instagram, “This is me, exercising my constitutional rights as a Pakistani and relying on our law to protect my dignity and this is me saying what I want to say for all the hard working independent woman out there who are insulted daily. I’m not gonna stand here and say I stood up for every woman out there but I will say that I stood up so that from now on if a situation like this arises, every woman and man out there knows that standing up for yourself is your RIGHT!”
Comedian Ali Gul Pir recently got hitched to Azeemah Nakhoda, an aesthetician and laser therapist. Following his wedding, Gul Pir took to Instagram to share photos from the event, writing, “Shadi hogaee!” (I got married!). As one would expect, he was flooded with congratulatory messages across the board, with many giving their best wishes for the couple to have a happy and blessed union. The duo’s nikkah, however, was an intimate affair where the two were surrounded only by close friends and family. Donning a simple white waistcoat and kurta-pajama for the event, Gul Pir wrote on his Instagram account after the nikkah, “Feeling loved, blessed and grateful to have a life partner and to get such a loving family as well. Azeemah Nakhoda you are stuck with me forever now, good luck to you! Nikkah done.”
Young Thug, the chart-topping artist, is reportedly the founder and head of a street gang engaged in violent crimes
AFP
A rap vanguard essential to the Atlanta scene that's for years been the genre's nerve centre, Young Thug is one of contemporary hip hop's most famous, most idiosyncratic figures.
The artist's arrest in May last year on racketeering charges rattled the community the 31-year-old came up in, as he and 27 other alleged street gang members were swept up in a sprawling RICO indictment.
State prosecutors allege the chart-topping artist born Jeffery Williams is the founder and head of YSL, or Young Slime Life, an affiliate of the Bloods street gang.
But defence attorneys assert that YSL is nothing but a record label and family of artists known as Young Stoner Life -- the same name of the label Young Thug founded in 2016 as an imprint of 300 Entertainment, a subsidiary of Warner Music Group. The rapper, who maintains he is innocent, is among 14 defendants set to stand in the wide-ranging trial expected to last at least six months.
Six others will be tried separately, while eight more have already taken plea deals.
The case has sparked widespread attention not least because prosecutors are citing rap lyrics as evidence of criminal activity, a practice that for years has prompted accusations of racism and curbing of artistic expression.
The month after his arrest, Young Thug urged fans in a video shown at a concert presented by a New York radio station to sign a petition calling for
legislation to restrict courts from using rap lyrics against defendants.
"You know, this isn't just about me or YSL. I always use my music as a form of artistic expression, and now I see that Black artists and rappers don't have that, you know, freedom. Everybody please
sign the 'Protect Black Art' petition and keep praying for us. I love you all," he said in the message.
The petition has since garnered tens of thousands of signatures. Born August 16, 1991, Young Thug grew up in the Jonesboro South projects of Atlanta, where
other renowned rappers including Waka Flocka Flame, 2 Chainz and Ludacris also came from.
As a teen he declared his future as the "next Lil Wayne," another southern rapper he idolized in his youth before becoming friends with him, getting bigger than him, and eventually beefing with him.
The young rapper released mixtape after mixtape beginning in 2011, drawing the attention of Atlanta legend Gucci Mane, who signed him. His debut commercial single "Stoner" gained acclaim, while fan favourite "Danny Glover" earned him remixes from prominent rappers including Nicki Minaj.
Beloved for his experimentation in the booth, Young Thug pulled off avant-garde flows rife with voice cracks and squeals, made trippier by mind-bending rhymes and scrambled words. One critic at the hip hop magazine XXL dubbed the prolific artist a "rap weirdo," while Billboard applauded his vocal contortions: "He finds a new way to distress and warp his tone, to burrow resourcefully into rhythmic cracks and crevices."
Over more than a decade Young Thug has won legions of fans, though for years his psychedelic, flamboyant style and famously outlandish personality overwhelmed the infectious peculiarities and mastery of his music.
But today he's one of rap's most emulated artists, spawning a new generation of Thug clones including Gunna, Lil Duke, the late Lil Keed.
Gunna, one of Young Thug's most famous protégés, was also swept up in the indictment but recently took a plea deal.
Critics have declared Young Thug among the most influential voices of his generation, crediting the rapper with concocting rap's current flavour by infusing it with his singular uncanny expression.
"I love when people ask me what I'm saying," he told The Fader magazine in 2014. "Even though I ain't gonna tell them. I'll let them listen 10 more years before I tell them."
Marvel superhero actor Jeremy Renner suffered severe injuries while attempting to halt a large snow-plowing vehicle
AFP
Marvel superhero actor Jeremy Renner said he was "messed up" after being run over by his own snow plow as he tried to climb into the driver's seat of the giant 14,000-lb (six-ton) vehicle.
Renner suffered severe injuries near his Nevada home while attempting to halt the PistenBully machine, which had begun rolling forward after he used it to help free a stranded family member's vehicle from heavy snow.
"In an effort to stop the rolling PistenBully, Mr Renner attempts to get back into the driver's seat," Washoe County Sheriff Darin Balaam told a press conference.
"Based on our investigation, it's at this point that Mr Renner is run over by that PistenBully."
Renner, who was taken by helicopter to nearby Reno, posted a selfie from his hospital bed, showing heavy bruising on his face.
"Thank you all for your kind words. I'm too messed up now to type. But I send love to you all," wrote Renner on Instagram.
Renner's publicist Sam Mast said the actor had undergone surgery and was "making positive progress and is awake, talking and in good spirits."
"He remains in ICU in critical but stable condition," Mast said.
"He is overwhelmed by the showing of love and support. The family asks for your continued thoughts while he heals with his close loved ones."
Officials said there was no indication that drink or drugs were involved in the incident, which was being treated as a "tragic accident."
Sheriff Balaam said an investigation was on-going due to the "severe injuries" Renner suffered, including checks for any sign of mechanical failure.
The PistenBully, or snowcat, operated by Ren-
ner is a large specialized snow plowing vehicle with giant, raised caterpillar tracks on each side of an enclosed cab.
Balaam said emergency responders struggled to reach Renner due to three feet (one meter) of snowfall the previous night, which forced several drivers to abandon their cars on a nearby highway.
On arriving, they treated Renner, and "some good neighbours of Mr Renner's... came out with some towels and rendered some aid."
The sheriff praised Renner as a "great neighbour" who had been using his machine to plow private roads for nearby residents.
Renner holds the honorary title of deputy sheriff and is popular with local children, who call him "Hawkeye" after the superhero he plays in several Marvel films and a recent miniseries, Balaam added.
Renner, 51, has been nominated for two Oscars for his roles in "The Hurt Locker" and "The Town."
In a season like winter, what could be better than eating savoury prawns swirling in an aromatic red curry to warm your heart in the chilly season? Prawn tempura and butterfly prawns are equally tempting if you're a seafood lover, but nothing beats the traditional prawn karahi, a juicy curry which is based on jumbo prawns dipped in red tomato curry with lots of red-hot chilies.
Though karahi can be cooked with any choice of protein in savoury gravy, in winter people crave something extra to satisfy their taste buds, and what's better than enjoying the most delicious prawn karahi?
The people of Karachi can count on ten places for the best chicken/mutton karahi, but choosing the right spot for prawn
karahi can be stressful – Not anymore. Thankfully, some restaurants have added delicious prawn karahi on their menu that no one can get away with.
So to make the hunt more manageable, here we list some restaurants that offer the Best Prawns Karahi, and when I say best, I mean it!
Biryani of the Seas
• Thumbs Up
• Quality plus amazing quantity
• Affordable price
• Unique burst of flavours
Biryani of the Seas is the place to go if you want to experience the unique flavour of biryani with a touch of seafood. But this place has a lot more than just biryani. I have been a fan since I tried their prawn karahi. It is perfectly balanced and an excellent choice if someone prefers spicy food but not too spicy to burn one’s taste buds. The mix of a variety of spices, garnished with green chilies, give the karahi a delicious depth of flavour that leaves people wanting more and more. It's a must-stop if you are heading toward Clifton and craving prawns.
Dua Restaurant
• Thumbs Up
• Rich smoky flavour
• Available in white and brown curry
• Not too spicy
Not just grilled prawns, Dua Restaurant is famous for its prawn karahi too. If you are a seafood connoisseur, there are only a few places that can indulge your palate, but have you ever wondered how fresh is the seafood being served to you? It's common for restaurants to use frozen seafood, especially during the summer when fishing is prohibited. Result: you have to bear with the stale taste, but that's not the case with Dua restaurant.
The best part is that you can have it in two flavours. If you are not a fan of tomatoes or want to try a different karahi, then go for white prawn karahi. The rich blend of spices provides an authentic street taste without compromising the quality. Prawn-based dishes might be a niche market, but the restaurants, as mentioned above, are capturing the market with great taste. Many restaurants offer prawns handi, katakat, and grilled prawn. The choices are endless if you are a seafood lover.
By Minaal Mohsin Maan ISLAMABADOn December 26, 2022, Namkeen Cuisine, a franchise of Peshawar’s well-known Charsi Tikka eatery, opened its another outlet in F-11 in Islamabad. The people of Islamabad can now relish the tantalizing flavour of chicken and fish tikkas along with Dumba and Namkeen Chicken Boti right here in the city, and can experience the same delightful burst of flavours nearer to their homes.
Located at a serene location in F-11, Namkeen Cuisine holds true to its tagline, Bites of Culture. With chefs preparing mouth-watering tikkas and kebabs right off the road, Namkeen Cuisine exhibits cultural vibes from the word go and is an ideal place where visitors can experience a fusion of South Asian culture, coupled with an exemplary ambiance, comfortable seating arrangements and, of course, a great quality of food. An optimal joint for winter nights, the restaurant’s outdoor patio space is a good spot to hold qawwali nights and any other outdoor event exuding a vintage charm of the rich South Asian culture.
Charsi Tikka and Namkeen Cuisine have slowly become household names in Islamabad where one can never really think of a barbecue without such delectable spicy foods as Namkeen Boti, Mutton Chops and DumPukht Dumba.
At Namkeen Cuisine, the menu is based on a variety of Afghani foods, such as chicken and fish tikkas, Reshmi Kebab, Seekh Kebab, Malai Boti, Kabli Alfaham
and Alfaham Sajji. Hailed from the Arabian region, Alfaham is essentially a chicken, which is marinated with a variety of spices and is grilled over coals before serving.
The menu has a whole section dedicated to karahis, including Mutton Karahi, Mutton Karahi Makhni, Chicken Green Karahi, Chicken White Karahi and various others.
Other than an all-time favourite Dum Pukht Dumba, Namkeen Cuisine also offers a variety of fast food items such as burgers and sandwiches as well as a special menu for children.
The man behind the Namkeen Cuisine is Hamid Raza, a professional chef who decided to establish his own restaurant after being influenced by the well-known Namak Mandi of Peshawar. Recounting his journey, Hamid Raza said, “We started the journey by opening the first branch of Charsi Tikka in Namak Mandi, Peshawar, which was very well-received before moving on to Islamabad in F-6 and G-11, and now in F-11.” He also shed some light on his plans to expand his business into the Middle East.
Namkeen Cuisine is also being managed by Laila Naz, who is a hospitality consultant and has worked with five-star hotel chains such as Sarena Hotels, Hashoo Group, Ramada by Wyndham and Best Western Premier. She has big plans for Namkeen Cuisine, including the introduction of Sunday Brunch at the restaurant. Running by a professional chef with years of experience as well as a hospitality consultant with international exposure, Namkeen Cuisine is no doubt a force to be reckoned with.
The people of Islamabad welcome another branch of Namkeen Cuisine in the city
We bring you the top restaurants in Karachi that offer the best Prawn Karahi and lots more